Method and apparatus for producing striped knitted fabric



.F .6,1 940- H. AGULNEK ET AL K 2,189,27

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING STRIPE!) KNITTED FABRIC Filed-June 9,1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 E A114 7 12: J I I, u'uumjgIl 1mm n 1 165 mm m L 1 178 68 K V 56 Ly IKVENTORS LE5 TEE M15060 HARE Y AGULNEK ATTORNEY Feb. 6,1940. H. AGULNEK ET AL. 2,139,276

A'lfUS FOR PRODUCING STRIPEb KNITTED FABRIC METHOD AND APPAR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9, 1938 INVENTO R5 LESTER MIS/lcvN HAEBY AGuL/VEK ATTORNEY Feb! '6, 1940.

H. AGULNEK ET ,AL 76 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCI ING STRIPED KNITTED FABRIC Filed June 9, 1938 4 Sheets- Shegt 5 ATTORNEY Feb. 6, 1940. H. AGULNEK ET AL I v 2,182,276

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING STRIPED KNITTED FABRIC FiledJune 9, 1938 4 SheetS-Sheet 4 I 117 117 &9 112 118 r 1 115 1% 22a ZZ6 I K Z EEY AGULNEK ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 6, 1940 UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE MET HOD AND APPARATUS FOR- PRODUC- ING STRIPED KNITTED FABRIC Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application June 9, 1938. Serial no. 212,670

13 .Claims.

. latch needle variety, to fabricate at a high rate I number of colored yarn feeds.

of production a wide variety of striped materials,

and to enable tubular fabric to be knitted with a well-defined, closed seam formed by overlapping courses.

The most commonly employed means for effecting the production of striped knitted fabric has heretofore been what is commonly referred to as the four finger striping box which, by its very nature, has certain inherent shortcomings including limited selectivity and productive capacity; and besides, the fabric produced by such machines contain a relatively tight, hard and inflexible seam frequently found disadvantageous in processing and other operations to which the finishedfabric is subjected. The limited productivity is due to the fact that only one color of each box could be knitted in at a time, so that the maximum number of courses per revolution of the knitting machine must of necessity be limited to the number of boxes, which seldom exceeds eight; and the above-referred-to unsatisfactory seam results from the fact that during the transition or color change-over period, both the incoming and outgoing yarns are simultaneously fed and looped together over each of the needles; thereby producing a relatively hard inflexible longitudinal seam therein.

It is hence among the objectives of our invention,to overcome these difiiculties by not only enabling striped material to be produced with a well-defined closed seam, but also to enable a. multi-feed machine, such as the conventional thirty-two feed machine, to produce for each revolution of the machine a spiral of thirty-two courses including both background or body yarn and stripes.

In that aspect of our invention directed towards increased productivity, the mechanical 'embodiment thereof can produce in a thirty-two feed machine as many as thirty-one feeds at onetime plus a colored stripe on the thirty-second feed;'

or it may produce wider stripes of many courses and narrower body portions, all the thirty-two feeds working towards fabric output'while the stripe is being knit, whereas the number of feeds working when producing background for'the body 'portion of the fabric is thirty-two minus the It is a further object of our invention to enable a machine of this nature to operatively employ any number of the feeds thereon, putting them in and out of operative engagement in accordance with a predetermined set-up of control means, all in a manner to be hereinafter set forth.

In that aspect of our invention directed to- .wards the production of a well-defined overlapping seam, it is within our contemplation to .enable all the needles on the cylinder to be operatively employed during the striping operation, a result which we obtain .by operatively actuating an auxiliary tucker cam at predetermined times both prior and subsequent to the engagement and disengagement of a. feed, thereby causing the overlapping structure of the stripe and substantially closed seam. The said auxiliary tucker, in

accordance with our invention, is coactively engageable with a predetermined number of adjacent special needles. at that region of the machine where the engagement and disengagement of the various yarns are efiectedthese special needles containing, in the preferred form or our invention, relatively long butts. The arrangement is such as to obviate the expedient frequently employed of removing certain needles in the change-over region for avoiding a trail or wake of butts during this operation, which tend 'to create an irregular seam, and in this manner we eliminate the unwanted gaps and weakened areas frequently found at the seams of striped knitted fabrics.

In most conventional knitting machines provided with striping mechanism, there'is always an accumulation of waste yarns that are wound around the central post of the machine during the striping operation, it being necessary to periodically remove such accumulations when the center post region becomes unduly congested. It

is hence another object of ourinvention to enable striping to be done without any undesirable accumulation or congestion of the yarn employed in the knitting operation.

Among other objects of our invention are the manufacture of wide striped tubular knitting fabric, and the production of striped knit goods having a longitudinal seam area of predetermined width and circumferential position.

To aid in the accomplishment of the aforementioned objects, it is within the further contemplation of this invention to provide means for automatically bringing the yarn about to be disengaged into such a predetermined position as to enable it to be properly cut and held clamped in position until again knitted, all in proper timed knitting relationship with the needles.

And still another object of this invention is to provide tension relief mechanism adapted to be operatively actuated in timed. relation with the tucking mechanism for the purpose of taking unwanted strains of! the stitches.

Other objects, features and advantages will appearfrom the drawings and the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of a fragment of a multi-feed circular knitting machine embodying our invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a pick, out and clamp section employed in our invention and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a cam section forming part of the knitting machine containing our invention, showing both the main and auxiliary tuckers.

' Figure 5 is a side elevation of clamp section of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of a plurality of feed sections in different relative positions with respect to the cylinder.

Figures 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views illustrating a sequence of events of one of the feed sections of Figure 6 in effecting a discontinuance or disengagement of a feed.

Figures 10, 11 and 12 are views similar to Figures '7, 8 and 9 but illustrating a sequence of events for bringing a yarn into operative engagement with the feed. 4

Figure 13 is a diagrammatic view of an exemplary fragment of a striped tubular knitted fabric producible by the machine illustrated in the other figures, including a longitudinal seam, and Figures 14 and 15 are sections of the fabric of Figure 13 taken substantially along lines l4l4 and lB-IS respectively. a

In the. drawings, and particularly Figures 1 and 2 thereof, the conventional portions of the structure illustrated include a stationary supporting ring l0 carried by supports 12 upon which are suitably mounted conventional driving mechanism including the bevel gear l6a in operative engagement with gear l6 forming part of a suitably mounted rotatable cam ring l4. The stationary support l0 carries the needle cylinder 24 containing the conventional latch needles operatively movable within grooves 26 on the outer surface thereof, said cylinder being provided with a rim shoulder 3| in supporting engagement with the sinker assembly supporting means 30 upon which is supported the sinker support ring 32 provided with radial grooves within which are operatively positioned the sinkers 34. The butts of said sinkers are in operative engagement with the sinker cam ring 36- in conventional manner. The rotatable ring I4 and sinker cam ring 36 share in the support of certain other units which are adapted to rotatably move about the cylinder to operatively actuate and engage the needles,

the pick, out and I yarn and certain stationary timing mechanisms,

all in a manner to be hereinafter set forth, such units including the composite cam assembly units 26, the pick, out and clamp units 2|, the tension relief mechanisms 23 and the yarn carriers 22. It will be observed that each of the said pick, cut

and clamp units and yarn carrier units are disposed slightly to one side (to the left in the drawings) of their sectionally related cam units 26, in the preferred form illustrated.

Referring to the said cam units 20, .each of said units includes a cam block 36 providing a journal for the rotatable shaft 40 containing at its outer end the rocker foot 42 and at its inner end the eccentric crank pin 44. By referring particularly to Figures 4 and 6, it will be seen that the said crank pin 44 extends into the horizontally disposed slot 48 within the main tucker 46 whereby upon a rotary manipulation of the shaft 40 the said main within the vertical slot contained within the outer surface of the cam 54. The said rocker foot 42 is adapted, by suitable actuating means; to be alternately rotated to positions 90 apart, whereby the said main tucker 46 will be correspondingly raised or lowered at the extremities of the oscillatory positions of the rocker foot. Although the means for effecting'a selective actuation of the rocker foot 42 will be described in a later portion of this specification, it should nevertheless be at this time noted that the proximate elements that are adapted for actual engagement with the rocker foot are the trip pins 50 and 52 supported by a stationary mounting and adapted to be alternately projected into the path swept by said rocker foot during its rotatable movement about the cylinder.

The said cam unit 20 also contains the raising cam segment 54 which contains the butt-engaging rising surface 56, said segment also supporting a separating cam 58, preferably of the type illustrated in Patent No. 2,006,821 in which the cam is yieldably retractible outwardly; said segment also containing a vertical recess for accommodating the auxiliary tucker in addition to the main tucker 46 as aforesaid. It should be tucker 46 can be slidably actuated noted that the said main tucker 46 is disposed inwardly close to the needle cylinder to effectively cooperate with needles having either long or short butts, whereas the said auxiliary tucker 66 is disposed radially outwardly 0r farther away from the cylinder than the said main tucker, so that it will be operatively engageable only with needles having long butts.

Each of the said cam units 20 also has mounted thereon a vertically movable stitch cam 62, said cam (see Figures 2 and 4) being aflixed to the post 63 slidably mounted within the cam block 36, the upper portion of said vpost being provided with ahorizontal connecting bar 64 through which extends the bolt 65, the lower portion 66 of which is also slidably movable within a suitable aperture within the block 38. A spring 61 is mounted over an upper reduced portion of the shank of said bolt and is positioned between and in abutting engagement with said-horizontal bar 64 and a plate 68 rigidly afflxed to said shank. Supported by the block 38 are the springs 69 which are in engagement with the underside of said plate 68, normally urging it upwardly against the action of spring 61, thereby consequently forcing upwardly the said bar 64 and post 63 together with the stitch cam 62. A lever 10 is pivotally mounted at H to the block 36, one terminal 10a of the lever being in constant engagement with the upper surface of said plate 66 (through the actions of said springs 69). and the other terminal being consequently held in engagement, through an aperture 12 in the journal I3, with the shaft 40, said shaft containing a depressed portion 14 adapted to be in registry with said aperture once during every revolution of the shaft 40.

when the said rocker foot 82 is operatively rotated by the trip pins 58 and 82, ina manner to be specifically hereinafter described, the-lower terminal of the lever I8 will be in a lowered position when it is in engagement with said depression l4 and 'in an elevated position when in engagement with the other portions of the shaft 88, thereby producing a corresponding raising or lowering of the opposite terminal 18a ofthe lever 16 I8. When the said terminal 184 of the lever is lowered by such action, it will depress. the plate 88 together with the associated parts to cause a lowering of the stitch cam 62, and when said v 88 ting of the machine. The parts are so designed that when the main tucker 46 is in its raised position, the stitching cam is inits lowered position, and when the main tucker is in its lowered position and the needles in said feed not knitting, 88 the said stitch cam 62 is in its elevatedposition. This is of course made possible by positioning the recessed portion I4 in shaft 48 at a suitable predetermined position thereon. It is hence obvious that when the needles in the region of a feed arenot knitting, the stitch cam is kept out of any possible engagement with the butts to prevent an unnecessary tension on the stitches at such times.

As is necessary in machines for producing a striped fabric, provisionmust be made at a cer tain point during the rotary operation of the machine for engaging a new yarn of one-color and disengaging another yarn when that color is no longer needed. Theyarn-engaging mechanism generally consists of an arrangement of cams for elevating certain selected needles at a certain region so that they will be in a position to take the desired yarn extending from the eyelet of a. yarn feed, certain other cams thereafter drawing these needles downwardly to effect the knitting operations. The yarn disengaging mechanism requires that at a predetermined point the yarn which is to be discontinued be cut and held in position ready for re-engagement at some subsequent time. In the physical embodimentof our invention we not only effect a cutting and clamping for the purposes above stated, but also enable such operationsto be very conveniently and efiiciently performed by providing in a single unit an arrangement of parts which first picks up the yarn to be cut and positions it within the throat of the cutting mechanism in a substantially horizontal position, so that a positive operation can be obtained at all times, the device being particularly compact in form so as to'enable a multiplicity of such units to .be employed on a multi-feed machine.

Specifically, each of the'pick, cut-and clamp 'units identified by the reference numeral 2| comprises a supporting structure I5 .having mounted thereon a plate 16 provided preferably at its inner end with a stationary blade I8; and a movable blade 88, pivotally mounted at 18, adapted for cooperation with such stationary blade as a shearing mechanism. The said mov-.

able blade 88 is normally urged by the spring 82- into closed position against the stop pin 84 extending outwardly from the stationary blade I8, one end of the spring 82 being anchored to a 78 stationary element such as the pin 84, and the other end to another pin 88 extending outwardly from t e movable blade 88, said latter pin being held constant engagement with the terminal of the operating rod 88 slidably supported within the bracket 15. The outer terminal of said rod 88 is adapted to engage and follow a depression cam 88 forming part of a drum or cylindrical member 82 mounted upon a shaft rotatably supported by the bracket I5. The said cylindrical.

member also contains preferably three notches 84 with which the said outer terminal of rod 88 is also engageableby the action of spring 82, so

that the said cylindrical member is adapted to be retained in quadrangular positions for. every revolutionthereof, the rotational movement of said cylindrical member'being eii'ectuated in a manner to be hereinafter described.

It is obvious that when the outer terminal of rod 88 enters the depression within cam 88, it will be retracted outwardly to permit the spring 82 to operatively actuate the movable blade member 88 to effect a yarn cutting opera-.

tion. It is also apparent that upon a continued operative rotation of the said cylindrical member 82, the bar 88 will be projected inwardly against the pin 88 to cause an opening of the movable blade 88. According to the preferred manner of operating this device, four impulses are imparted to the cylindrical member 82 at predetermined times, thereby holding said member in three inoperative positions, and in one operative position when the rod 88 is in operative engagement with said depression cam 88;

The clamping mechanism consists of a movable clamp blade 86 attached to the movable cutting blade -88 and in spaced relation with respect thereto, this blade being adapted to enter between the two spaced flexible blades 88 aflixed to the stationary cutting blade I8 (see Figure 3) This will enable a yarn extending across the jaw 98 between the said blades when in their open positions to be engaged by the clamp blade 88 and drawn into the space between the said flexible blades 88, to be retained there until released by a new projection of the operating rod 88, as aforesaid.

The unit 2I is also provided with a picker arm I88 which is adapted to engage a selected yarn and elevate it into a substantially horizontal position between the said blades and into the cutting zone. In this manner not only will the yarnv be so positioned that it can be conven iently cut in a positive manner, but also be properly retained in a horizontal position, extending from the yarn eyelet to the-cutting and clamping mechanism, as indicated by the broken lines in Figure 9, and also by the full linein Figure 10. Before proceeding to consider the specific operating mechanism of said picker arm, it should be noted in this connection that the said cutting and clamping zone of the device is preferably substantially at the level of the feeding eyelet.

In the form of unit 2| illustrated, the said picker'arm I88 is, in itsinoperative position, substantially vertically disposed, being pivotally mounted at, I82 and normally urged outwardly to inner terminal head I85 of the slidable actuator rod I88 slidably mounted within the structure of frame I5. The outer terminal portion I8! of said actuator rod is engageable with a barrel cam segment I I8 positioned on the periphery of the cylindrical member 92, whereby, upon a rotatable movement of said cylindrical member, the said segment is caused to move the actuator rod inwardly, consequently causing the head I05 engaging the pin I08, to rotatably actuate the picker arm I00 until the yarnengaging hook I09 thereof 'is brought into predeterminedposition with respect to the jaw of the blades. When this operative movement of the picker arm is effected, the 10 said hook I09 will lift the yarn positioned thereabove into the proper position within the jaws of the cutting and clamping blades, in accordance with the above-stated requirements. In accordance with the illustrated design, the said actuator rod I06 is actuated slightly in advance of the rod 88 so as to bring the picker into its operative position just prior to the cutting operation. Both rods are held in their projected operative positions at this point until the cylindrical memher 92 is again rotatably actuated, whereby they will be forced outwardly by the action of said springs 82 and I03.

It will be noted that the shaft I06 is of split construction with a nut or turnbuckle I06a operatively mounted over the threaded proximate end portions I061; of the two sections of this shaft. Upon a rotatable manipulation of said turnbuckle, the terminal head I05 can be moved to different predetermined positions, thereby bringing the hook I09 of the picker to different operative positions. In this manner the yarn engaged by the-picker can be brought to different positions within the jaw of the blades, in accordance with the direction and degree of rotation of turnbuckle a Will. Hence if a cutting blade should become dulled due to the continued use of the yarn-engaging portion thereof, the position of the yarn could be slightly shifted to another portion of the blade, by a manipulation of the turnbuckle,

thereby prolonging the effective life of the blade,

and obviating frequent replacements.

' The said cylindrical member 92 is attached to the shaft 93, the outer termination of which has secured thereto the cross member II2 consisting I of two sets of oppositely disposed arms, the said arms H3 and H4 containing pins I20 thereon extending outwardly, and the arms I I6 and I I1 hav mg no obstructions or extensions thereon. The said cross member H2, in traversing its circular path about the cylinder, is adapted to be operatively actuated by certain pins interposed in its path, the pin II5 being projectable radially inwardly to intercept, at predetermined times, the saidarms I I6 and III, and the pin IIB being stationary and adapted at other times to operatively engage the pins I20, to effect rotational move-' ments of the cross member H2 and the cylindrical member 92, tooperatively actuate the pick,

cut and clamp mechanism hereinbefore referred to, all in a manner to be more fullyhereinafter described.

In the operation of this machine, it is essential that the auxiliary tucker and the pick, cut and w clamp unit. 2| be always actuated ataboutthe.

same time, inasmuch as the said auxiliary tuck acting only on certain long butt needles, performs its intended function only in preparation of the yarn engaging and yarn disengaging operations; and the main tucker 40 is elevated only during the time its section is feeding and knitting. In carrying out the purposes of this invention we have found it exceedingly desirable to employ a single control mechanism for operatively actuating, at 26 predetermined times, the said pick, out and clamp unit 2I, and the said main and auxiliary tuckers, which will now be described.

A timing chain mm is synchronously geared to the rotatable portions of the knitting machine, said chain having thereon a plurality of links 5 of various heights, preferably high, medium and low, these being identified in the drawings by the reference numerals I22, I23 and I24 respectively. The said chain is mounted upon a sprocket drum I92 intermittently actuated by a pawl mechanism 10 I33 operatively connected by driving means more fully described in Patent No. 2,112,260 issued March 29, 1938, whereby the said chain I201: may be advanced step by step in accordance with a. prearranged setting, as fully described in said u patent.

An arm I20 is pkvotally mounted at I30, said arm carrying a follower I26 adapted to successively engage the links on the said chain I200, the spring I46 urging the follower into .operative $0 engagement with the links. The said arm (see Figure I) is provided at its extreme right end with a pin I40 which is engageable with the cam lever I 42 containing a depressed preferably V-shaped cam edge I44 the apical portion of which is 20 adapted to engage said pin I40 when the medium link I23 is in engagement with the follower I26 as illustrated. in the figure. Under this construction, it will be observed that upon either 9. raising or lowering of arm I29 from the position shown, no the said cam I42 will be rotated in a clockwise position to the dot-dash position illustrated, it being hence evident that such an operative movement of the cam I42 can be efiectuated when the follower I26 engages either a high link such as I22 or a low link such as I24.

The shaft I48, to which the same cam I42 is attached, has also affixed to the inner terminal thereof the arm I50 which is pivotally connected to the vertically movable auxiliary Q tucker trip I52. When the arm I50 is operatively actuated by the movement of cam I42, the said auxiliary tucker trip I52 is actuated upwardly into the swept path of the depending ends I54 of the auxiliary tuckers 60 as they are rotatably moved about the cylinder. Inasmuch as said depending ends of the auxiliary tuckers are bevelled, and the upper portion of the trip mechanism I52 is correspondingly bevelled, the operative engagement between the auinliary tucker trip I52 and the auxiliary tuckers will cause an elevation of the latter, thereby placing them into condition to perform their operative function during the yarn change-over period. It should be noted that the said shaft I48 is a suitably supported at its outer end in the bracket .ISG which in turn depends from flange I58. of the standard I2.

The shaft I40 has also afllxed to the outer end thereof an arm I60 connected to a bell crank I62 through the medium of the upwardly extending link I64. The bell crank is pivoted at I60 to .a bracket I mounted on thesaid stationary supporting ring I0. Adjustably secured to this bracket are 'the blocks I10 and a I12 these blocks supporting the pins IIS and H8 respectively.

It will be observed that with the said follower I20 in engagement with a medium size link I23, the pin II! is outside of the sweptpath of the 1 cross member H2, and the auxiliary tucker trip member I02 is inoperative (in a down position).

It will also be apparent that upon an actuation of the arm I20 either up or down, by means of high or low links I22 or I24, the tucker trip I52 is raised and the pin II 5 is projected inwardly. both simultaneously, due to the fact that the arms I50 and I60 are both simultaneously operated upon an operative movement of the cam I42. I

The arm I has also pivotally attached to it, at the slot I13, the link I14 the upper terminal of which is pivotally connected to a compound bellcrank I16 rotatably mounted at I10 on-the bracket I 68, the upper and lower arms I00 and I82 of the bellcrank having slotted portions thereof within which the pins 50 and 52 are operably connected. When a high link I22 encounters the follower I26, the arm I28 will consequently be raised to'produce a counterclockwise rotation of the bellcrank I15, thereby projecting the pin 50 inwardly; and when the follower encounters a low link I24, the arm I28 will be lowered (under the influence of spring M6) to cause a clockwise rotation of bellcrank I16, a retraction of pin 50 and an operative projection of pin 52; and when the follower encounters a medium link I23, the bar I20 will be inits neutral or inoperative position, and both of the pins 50 and 52 will consequently remain in inoperative and unprojected'positions. When either of the pins 50 or 52 are operatively projected inwardly, they will intercept any oncoming rocker feet 42 to cause a tripping thereof and an operative rotation of shaft 40, whereby the main tucker 46 is either raised or lowered in the manner hereinbefore described. An operative projection of pin 50 will cause a lowering of said main tucker, whereas an operative projection of pin 52 will cause a raising thereof,

for purposes which will appear from the description hereinafter given.

It thus appears, as aforesaid, that the links on the chain I20 control the operative movements of the pick, out and clamp unit,'the auxiliary tucker and the main tucker 46 together with its associated parts.

For operative conditions, the sequence of linksmust then be so arranged as to enable an idle feed section or.

yarn to be thrown in when desired, and to discontinue in proper relation thereto a previous working feed or yarn, the operations of certain of the associated parts being performed at about the same time to enable the change-over to be emciently and expeditiously effectuated.

It will be convenient to refer to Figure 6 which shows two feed sections in operative relation .to the needles about the cylinder, the central portion of the illustration showing the arrangement of the parts when a feed from eyelet I0 is being knitted, and the left portion of the illustration showing the relation of the parts when a yarn from eyelet I4 is to be cut and clamped and hence discontinued. For the purpose of this illustration, the long buttneedles include those within the extent of the arrow L, these being, as aforesaid, engageable by both shown in the drawing, the long butt needles being shown in the welt position and subsequently rising to the tuck level, to further rise to the latch clearing level whereby they will be in a position to operatively take the yarn from eyelet 10, the needles then being drawn down by the stitch cam 62 to perform the knitting operation, the knife blades 18 and and clamping blades 96' and 90 (diagrammatically illustratedO being shown in their open position, and the yarn from eyelet I0 being carried downwardly out of reach of the said blades. It will also be noted that'in the said "feeding" position, the butts of the needles travel above the separating cam 58, and are entirely free from engagement therewith. At this step of the operation, the auxiliary cam 60 is shown in its lowered position whereas the main tucker 46 is shown in its raised position, so that it is oheratively adapted to elevate all the needles to effect ayarn taking and subsequently a knitting operation.

As the needle actuating mechanism-continues rotatably about the cylinder, the position ofthe said auxiliary and main tuckers will obviously determine the subsequent operations of the needles. The arrangement illustrated in Figure 6 shows that the feed from 14 is to be discontinued. Under these conditions, the main tucker 46 is lowered, and the auxiliary tucker 50 is maintained in its unelevated position as shown,

so that the butts'of none of the needles will engage either of said tuckers, but will move along a tuck position (where the hooks of the needles are below the yarn-engaging level) until they will engage the said separating cam 58, to be drawn downwardly, thereby not performing a knitting operation but creating a float inasmuch as the yarn from eyelet 14 has not been drawn downwardly by the needles. The said yarn is picked up by the picker I00 bringing it in a horizontal position within the throat of the cutting and clamping blades, whereupon, at a predetermined time, the cutting and clamping operation is effected. This occurs when the stationary pin IIB causes an operative rotation of the cross member H2 in a manner to be more fully hereinafter explained.

Figures 7 to 9 inclusive illustrate a series of V needles to latch-clearing position to effect a knitting of its yarn. The elevation of the auxiliary tucker 60 causes an elevation of the said long butt needles to latch clearing position, until engaged by the stitch cam 62 to complete the knitting operation of the previous low butt needles,

\ as shown in Figure 8. Referring back to Figure I, it will be seen that the upper pin 50, actuated by the double bell crank H0, is in abutting engagement with-the rockerfoot 42, a continued movement of the camring causing anoperative tripping of said rocker foot and a consequent lowering of the main tucker 45 as shown in Figure 8. In the meantime the auxiliary tucker 60 i has again been returned to its lowered position after it had passed the tuckertrip I52, as illustrated. As appears from Figure 8, all short butt needles following the long butt needles shown being drawn by the'stitch cam 62, will remain in their tuck level unelevated, and will be depressed by the auxiliary or separating cam 58, all such needles being hence maintained at below yarn taking level. ,Hence upon a continued rotary operation of the machine, a float will be formed between the last (right) long butt needle and the eyelet, as shown in Figure 9.

It is at this point that the pick, out and clamp mechanism is operated through the medium of the cross member H2, as will now be explained. It will be seen that inFigure 8 the arm 6 of the cross member H2 has approached close to the pin 5 which has been projected into the path of said arm 6 through the operative action of link i6, which in turn has been actuated through the action upon arm I28 of the links on the chain l2lla. Upon a continued movement of the cross member H2 about the cylinder, the said arm will engage the pin ll5, whereupon a rotary movement of 90 of member 2 will be produced to bring the "arm H6 into the position shown in Figure 9. When this occurs, the pick, out and clamp mechanism is operated in the manner hereinabove described, the picker bringing the float 2 (Figure 9) to a horizontal po-' sition between the jaws of the cutting and clamping blades, whereupon the yarn is cut and held clamped in a horizontal positionas indicated by the dotted lines at 2l8, leaving suspended a tail end 2l6.

Upon a further continued operative movement of the cross member 2 about the cylinder, the pin I20 on arm 4 will come into engagement with the stationary pin Ill, to cause a further rotation of the cross member III about its axis, this rotary movement having no immediate eilect upon the associated mechanism, but merely serving to bring the arm 1 into a vertical position ready for operative engagement with pin 5 at any subsequent selected time- For best operative results, it is apparent that the severance of the yarn 2 should be effectuated as late as possible, in order to provide a sufficiently long tail yarn tov prevent an un-.

ravelling of the last knitted wale. It will also be observed that the operation of either pins SI or 52 and pin Iii occurs preferably simultaneously.

Figures 10, 11 and 12-illustrate a series of steps just prior to and including the engagement of a new feed. As shown in Figure 10, the tucker trip I52 hasbeen momentarily raised so as to elevate the auxiliary tucker ll, whereby all the long butt needles shown on the figure will be raised to latch clearing position, preparatory to taking the yarn 226. It will be noted that the main tucker I6 is in its lowered position inasmuch as the feed of yarn 226 was not in operation, being held clamped between the clamping laws as shown. It will also be observed that the lower pin 52 is in engagement foot 42 so that a continued operative rotation of the cam ring, the said rocker foot will be operatively rotated to the podtion shown in Figure 11, thereby also elevating the maintucker I. As the said long butt needles successively engage the yarn, their butts come into engagement with the stitch cam 62, carrying them downwardly preparatory to the performance of a knitting operation. Inasmuch as thel main with the rocker;

tucker 46 has been elevated during the time the long butt needles are passing thereover, it is in a position to-' operatively intercept. a stepped up angulated trail of short butt needles extending along the path 221, whereby said short butt needles will all be'elevated to a latch clearing position to take the yarn 226, to be subsequently depressed by the stitch cam 62 preparatory to the knitting operation to be completed after the yarn 226 will be released from the clamping mechanism thereby performing a continuous and uninterrupted knitting operation. when the yarn 226 is engaged by all the long butt needles as shown in Figure 12 and sufliciently knitted to prevent any accidental withdrawal thereofwhen the clamping blades are released, the cross member H2 is operatively actuated to cause an opening of the clamping blades, as shown in this fig-, ure, and permit the release of the yarn'for a continued feeding operation. The said rotation of :member 2 is efiectuated when the arm ill'l comes into engagement with the forwardly projected pin 5, as shown in Figure 12, the pro jection of said "pin being timed in accordance with the setting of the links on said chain I20.

In both of the operating conditions above described in connection with the discontinuance of the feed and the bringing in of a new feed, it will be noted that the said long buttneedles are always raised in advance oi either ofthe above operations, that is, th y are raised in advance of the raising of the main tucker 46, and also in advance of lowering of said main tucker, thereby providing a definite'termination. point for the yarn coming in and yarn going out. It is thus apparent that a seam area is produced containing overlapping courses of beginning and end portions of the spiral.

It should at this time be stated that if merely a main tuckerwer'e used to operate with conventional short b'utt Ineedles, an up or down going trail or stepped arrangement of needles would be presented, whereby the oncoming separating or auxiliary cam 58 would so intercept said trail as to cause the upper needles to take yarn and the lower needles to be free from the yarn feed, thereby producing a rather poorly defined seam region. with our invention, however, the said trail or stepped arrangement of butts during the change-over period is completely eliminated, the discontinuance of one feed and continuance of another taking place only when the long butt needles are elevated. It is thus obvious that only the selected needles will pass over the separating cam 58 for taking yarn, all others passing therebelow jfor non-feeding conditions, thereby providing a well defined seam area of uniform width.

If the machine embodying the above inventioncontains thirty-two feeds, it obviously is wcapable of producing fabricwith thirty-one feeds of one color and one feed of another coloroperating simultaneously, thereby producing for every 1 revolution of the machine thirty-one courses of body yarn plus one colored stripe. It can also produce wider stripes of many courses and narrower body portions. While stripes are being knit, all thirty-two feeds are in operation, and when background for the body portion is being knit,.the number of feeds in operation per revolution is thirty-two less the number of colored yarn feeds which the machine is set to produce. It is hence apparent that a machine embodying our invention is capable of producing a great variety of striped fabrics at a high rate of production.

' knitted by the apparatus above described, illustrates a striped knitted fabric produced on a thirty-two feed machine and comprising a number of. different colors constituting the stripe.

Beginning at point A, three selected colors are introduced at the beginning of the long butt needie zone, then three succeeding feeds of body yarn are knitted out at B, and three other selected colors, again beginning atthe left of the long butt needles, are knitted in at C. This is followed at D by a plurality of courses constituting the background yarn.- The operation is continued to form spirals as indicated, the discontinuance of the various yarns being effected at the right side of the seam to form an overlap- .ping seam of a width Z indicated by two arrows. The product is thus a tubular knitted fabric having a fully knitted seam which is flexible and yieldable, inasmuch as there is no in-- tertwining ofyarn at the region of the seam as in the case of other conventional striping machines hereinbefore referred to. As shown in Figure 15, the only difference between the section of yarn at this region and in any other region (indicated at Figure 14) is that a slight gathering or warping occurs where the colored yarns are engaged and disengaged. And inasmuch as the fabric is made without any interruption to the .knitting operation, no holes in the seam are present. It is thus apparent that the knitted fabric' is particularly, adaptable to' being drawn through spreader'mechanisms or other processing apparatus to which knitted fabrics are generally subjected after their fabrication because of the structurally strong yet yieldable and flexible nature of the seam.

It is of course understood that other additional forms ofapparatus and adaptations of the method can be employed beyond and in addition to those hereinbefore described, all within the scope of the appended claims. I

,What we claim is:

1. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a needle cylinder, a plurality of needles operatively positioned thereon including a group of seam-producing-needles, needle elevating and depressing means including a movable main tucker engageable'with all said needles for operatively actuating them to produce knitted stitches, an auxiliary tucker engageable only with said seam-producing needles for operatively elevating-them, and means for successively actuating both of said tuckers, said auxiliary tucker being operable in advance of said main tucker.

2. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a needle cylinder, a

plurality of needles operatively positioned thereon including a group of seam-producing needles, needle elevating and depressing means engageable with all said needles for operatively actuating them to produce'knitt'ed stitches, a plurality of yarn feeds cooper-ably positioned with respect to said needles, cutting and clamping means operatively associated with each of said feeds for cutting the yarn from its feed and clamping the I terminal portion of said yarn, an auxiliary tucker operatively associated with said main tucker for vertically actuating it upon a rotation of the plurality of needles operatively positioned thereon including a group of seam-producing needles, needle elevating and depressing means including a movable main tucker engageable with all said needles for operatively actuating them to produce knitted stitches, a plurality of yarn feeds cooperably positioned with respect to said neeing an operative revolution of the machine.

4. Inia method of knitting striped fabric on a circular knitting machine containing a group of 2 0 seam-producing needles at a selected region of the machine-and body-producing needles about the rest of the machine, the steps of elevating only said seam-producing needles to a latchclearing position, elevating succeeding needles to :5

a tuck level, bringing said seam-producing needles into engagement with the yarn from an adjacent feed and lowering these needles to a welt position to form a float, cutting said float and clamping the terminal thereof;

5. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a cam unit mounted on the cam ring of the machine, said unit comprising. a block, a raising cam attached to the inner'surface thereof, a main tucker and spaced therefrom laterally and radially away from the cylinder an auxiliary tucker, said tuckers being vertically movable and having inclined needleengaging surfaces.

6. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, the combination according to claim 5, further provided with a shaft, rotatably mounted within said block and containing a rocker foot attached thereto, the inner terminal of the shaft containing eccentric means shaft, and means for "operatively engaging said rocker foot.

7. In a circular'knitting machine for the production of'striped fabrics, the combination according to claim 5 in operative association with a movable tripping block engageable with said auxiliary tucker,- and means for intermittently actuating said block for vertically actuating said I auxiliary tucker.

8. In a circular knitting machine" for the pro- 'duction'of striped fabrics, the combination according to claim 5, further provided with a shaft rotatably mounted within said block and containing a rocker foot attached thereto, the inner terminal of the shaft containing eccentric means operatively associated with" said main tucker for vertically actuating it upon a rotation of the shaft, means-for'operatively engaging said rocker foot, a stitch cam slidably movable vertically on said block, yieldable means urging said stitch cam upwardly, and, depressing means associated with said'shaft and-operatively connected with the stitch cam for depressing said cam against 7 the action of said yieldable means at a predetermined point during the rotary movement of said shaft.

'9. In a circularknitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a cam unit mounted I tucker or said cutting and clamping means duron the cam ring of the machine, said unit comprising a block, 8. raising cam attached to the inner surface thereof, a main tucker and spaced therefrom laterally and radially away from the cylinder an auxiliary tucker, said tuckers being vertically movable and having inclined needleengaging surfaces, a stitch cam mountedon the block, and a separating cam interposed between said main tucker and said stitch cam.

10. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a unit including a yarn picker, yarn cutter and a yarn clamper, the cutter containing a pair of cooperating cutting blades and the clamper containing a plurality of cooperating clamping blades, the jaws of said blades being in registry when in their open positions, the picker comprising a pivotally mounted arm with a yarn-engaging terminal, said terminal being movable, upon an operative rotation of the-picker arm, to the level of the jaws of said blades whereby the yarn engaged thereby will be held within said jaws in position for' the subsequent cutting and clamping operations;

rotary means for actuating first said picker and then said blades intotheir operative positions, said rotary means being rotatable to a plurality of predetermined positions, the blades and picker being held inoperative at certain of said positions and operative at a predetermined one of' said positions, and means for successively revolving said rotary means at predetermined times to each of its said positions.

11. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a needle cylinder, a plurality of needles operatively positioned thereon including a group of relatively longri-butt needles, needle elevating and depressing means including amovable main tucker engageable with all said needles for operatively actuating them to produce knitted stitches, an independently movable auxiliary-tucker removed radially farther from the cylinder than the main tucker and engageable onlywith said long-butt needles for operatively elevating them, a movable tripping clamper, and selective intermittent, actuating means operatively connected with said rotary meansand said tripping block for simultaneously operating said main and auxiliary tuckers and said cutter and clamper.

12. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a unit including a yarn picker, a yarn cutter and a yarn clamper, the

cutter containing a pair of cooperating cutting blades and the clamper containing a plurality of cooperating clamping blades, the jaws of said blades being in registry when in their open positions, the picker comprising a pivotally mounted arm with a yarn-engaging terminal, adjustable means to operatively actuate said picker to bring the said terminal thereof into a selected position adjacent the jaws of said blades whereby the yarn engaged thereby will be held within said jaws in a predetermined position for the SUbSfi, quent cutting and clamping operations, and rotary means for actuating first said picker and then said blades into their respective operative positions.

l3. In a circular knitting machine for the production of striped fabrics, a needle cylinder, a plurality of needles operatively positioned thereon including a group of seam-producing needles,

needle elevating and depressing means including a movable main tucker-engageable with all said 8 needles for operatively actuating them to produce knitted stitches, an auxiliary tucker engageable only with said seam-producing needles for operatively' elevating them, and means for successively actuating both of said tuckers.

HARRY AGULNEK. LESTER MISHCON. 

